Comment from a Med Tech Investor
Hello Investors,
I received an excellent set of comments and questions from a Med Tech investor that I would like to share with you.
Who is the Incumbent? And why are you better? Hello Dr. Friedman. Currently, CardioMems by Abbott is the incumbent with over 1000 patient data that proved improved patient outcome and reduction in Heart Failure related hospitalization using their device. Three other startups are working on their own version to monitor Heart Failure using a similar technology. They are EndoTronix, FIRE 1, and Vectorious. All of them require a sensor implant INSIDE THE HEART in a cath lab procedure. Although accurate, they are expensive, complex and not for everyone.Oracle Health on other hand brings a simpler procedure, multi-sensors to monitor heart using ECG and Heart Sounds, and existing insurance coverage. We have a huge advantage, because it is a short 12 months regulatory process compared to 5-7 years. We are using a pacemaker technology with a 2-minute office procedure.
We use heart sounds and ECG to assess the heart. Pretty clever to insert it under the skin for long term. Thank you. We are using Multi-Sense clinical trial as the foundation of our technology. It is based on 900 Heart Failure patients with implanted cardiac devices, that showed higher accuracy with advanced notification well before the symptoms arise. Another study is by ZOLL corp that showed heart sounds as the bio-marker for Heart failure. This was based on 1000 Heart Failure patient data.
What are the biggest huddles with your device development and how will you mitigate it?
Implantable battery solution is the biggest huddle in terms of cost and time. Instead of spending resources on our own battery, we went with a notable medical device company and asked for their batteries. They agreed to sell us the batteries as long as we do not compete directly with them, thus saving us $2M and 2 years in development. And most importantly, we now have a reliable, powerful and proven battery with over 50K implants under its belt.Second biggest huddle is the ECG, acoustics and accelerometer sensors. For this, we are using the same sensor that goes inside the pacemaker technology.
What is your exit strategy? Before looking at exit strategies, we have to achieve milestones that will bring value to our patients and physicians, and investors. These are aggressive goals, but absolutely doable!
- Animal implant in 2021
- Patient implant in 2022
CVRx, EBR systems, and Setpoint medical are examples of notable valuation in our industry.
Why not Wearables? Wearables are a perfect solution for short term monitoring or as a consumer electronics. However, overall patient compliance drops to near ZERO, after several months of use. Patients simply cannot wear a vest throughout the day for months at a time. External patches will rip the skin after 2-3 weeks. And physicians cannot offer services for free, especially on consumer electronics.